Synthesis of Selenoamino Acids & Peptides

Cysteine and methionine are the amino acids with a sulfur atom, which can be a useful probe for X-ray structural analysis of proteins. Sulfur also exhibits unique interactions with neighboring heteroatoms.
We are interested in chemical and biological properties of the amino acids having a selenium atom instead of a sulfur atom. Derivatives of such amino acids would be useful as antioxidant drugs. In our laboratory, new synthetic routes for selenocysteine and selenomethione are being developed.